The Green Belt as a European Ecological Network strengths and gaps

Cheryl de Boer, Hans Bressers
RIVER RENATURALIZATION AS A STRATEGY FOR ECOLOGICAL NETWORKS
RIVER RENATURALIZATION AS A STRATEGY FOR ECOLOGICAL
NETWORKS
Cheryl de Boer and Hans Bressers
University of Twente
CSTM – Twente Centre for Studies in Technology and Sustainable development
PO Box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, The Netherlands
c.deboer@utwente.nl, hansbressers@utwente.nl
ABSTRACT
Rivers in the Netherlands often form linkages between cities. These linkages also provide an
opportunity to create natural linkage zones that connect nature and green spaces. This article portrays
the collaborative and cooperative strategies which are being used by water managers, nature managers
and provincial governments to accomplish significant ecological network development alongside
projects aimed at river renaturalization. These strategies provide an approach with which to address
the complex and dynamic implementation setting in which such projects need to be realized.
1 INTRODUCTION
In the Netherlands, there are three policy sets which we consider to directly support the
greenbelt approach. Firstly, there is the set of policies in place for the protection of the
remaining open space located between the larger cities in the west of the country which is
referred to as the Green Heart. Secondly, policies exist to contain urban sprawl all over the
country and endeavouring to maintain the rural nature of the countryside. And thirdly there
are the policies which are connected to the EU Nature policies which enable the connection of
existing yet fragmented nature areas. All three policy spheres are currently under pressure by
debates on their value in comparison to development, decentralization and budget cuts.
Nevertheless, their impact on Dutch land use has been remarkable. With respect to all three
policies it holds that the sheer density of the Dutch population and its economic activities
makes them both particularly necessary and especially hard to implement.
In this article we concentrate on the policies related to the EU nature policies, and more
specifically on the implementation strategies that are used to enable using rivers and river
banks for their potential to serve as ecological linkage zones. We concentrate on the
renaturalization of the Regge River, a 50 kilometer tributary river in the Dutch Vecht River
basin. With the exception of the River Rhine, the Vecht River is by far the largest crossboundary
river between Germany and The Netherlands. In the next section we provide some
background on the relevant Dutch policy context, followed by a description of the Regge
River case and a specific project as an example. In closing, the management strategies that we
have identified are presented.
2 GREENBELT POLICIES IN THE NETHERLANDS
In the early 1900’s the majority of the “wild” nature in the Netherlands consisted of
raised bogs and heathlands. Over the next seventy years, these areas were generally destroyed
through land developments which involved the implementation of ditches, dykes, fields, tree
paths, etc. in order to support the increasing demand for agricultural, residential and industrial
lands. Forested land cover area did increase over this period, however it was mainly through
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